DC Cancels ‘Border Town’ Comic Series Following Abuse Allegations

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that DC Entertainment imprint DC Vertigo canceled the Border Town comic book series effective immediately.

The unreleased issues 5 and 6 of Border Town will not be published and all orders of those titles have been canceled by the publisher. Furthermore, all previously released issues are being made returnable.

While Vertigo has not provided an official reason for the cancellation, the decision comes amid accusations of sexual abuse made against Border Town writer and co-creator Eric M. Esquivel. In a statement by Cynthia Naugle, the toy designer writes about being “sexually, mentally, and emotionally abused” by an unnamed person whom social media users later identified as Eric M. Esquivel, which Naugle seemed to have confirmed through Retweets.

Border Town colorist Tamra Bonvillain released a statement on the matter through Twitter that partially reads as follows:

“The way he treated [Naugle] was disgusting and inexcusable. […] It shames me to have spent so much time and energy working with someone who is capable of such actions, and I’m sorry if the delay in response caused some confusion about my feelings.”

Border Town artist Ramon Villalobos also made a statement that partially reads as follows:

“Whatever this person felt and experienced is what matters the most and I want to be clear that I think dealing with abuse and making the comics industry a safer place is the most important thing to come from this. To know the art that I’m so proud of, and the world I have lived in and created for the last year of my life had brought so much pain to individuals frankly outweighs the joy I know it brought others and that is going to be something that is hard to reconcile.”

As of now, Eric M. Esquivel has not released a public statement on the accusations.

What do you think of DC’s decision to cancel the Vertigo comic? Share your thoughts below!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter